There are many factors that led to hostility between military powers in Europe. Militarism was one cause for many of these hostilities. Militarism in the early 1900's was very similar to the arms race of today. Because Great Britain had a good navy, Germany felt as though they needed a strong navy as well (McDonough 8). Germany and France also competed for larger armies. The more one nation built up its army or navy the more the other nations felt they had to do the same. Each country was constantly trying to be better than the other. This led to great military expansion for Britain, Germany, and France. Another cause for many hostilities was imperialism. Some European nations ruled smaller countri

influences undoubtedly played a role in the end result but the primary responsibility should have been placed on the shoulders of the Germans aggressive attitude and their eagerness to dominate.

Twenty years before the war, nations of Europe started making alliances. It was thought that these alliances would promote peace all throughout Europe. Each country was supposed to be protected by their allies in case war was waged on them. This policy was thought to make it foolish for one country to wage war on another. The danger of these alliances was that a dispute between two nations could bring everyone else into the fight. This is exactly what happened when Austria-Hungary had a dispute with Serbia. Sir Edward Grey, a foreign secretary for Britain, said: "I gave no indication that we would stand aside; on the contrary, I said to the German ambassador that, as long as there was a dispute between Austria and Serbia alone, I did not feel entitled to intervene, but that, directly it was a matter between Austria and Russia, it became a question of peace in Europe which concerned us all" (McDonough 20). Once Russia moved into action against Austria-Hungary, Germany declared war on Russia. This set off many declarations of war from one country to another. The central powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire were at war against the allied powers, which existed of France, Gre

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Approximate Word count = 944
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)